30 September 2007

o our flight from Minneapolis was delayed two hours, giving us an additional 4-hour layover in Salt Lake City.

I'm sitting here checking e-mail and drinking a root beer, and I looked up at an arriving flight just in time to see the baggage handlers showing up to unload a plane. I've never actually watched what these guys do.

The first bags off, I presume, were marked for priority handling, because the guy who climbed into the belly of the plane took only about nine bags off, put them on a long conveyor belt with wheels, drove it 25 yards or so, and then started to take the bags off the conveyor belt to put them on a cart.

He must've noticed some mislabeled bags on the belt, because he selected five bags (out of the nine) that evidently didn't belong in the cart, and heaved them back toward the middle of the tarmac.

These were big bags, obviously packed heavy. But baggage handlers are strong guys, so the luggage went at least 20 feet in the air and then scooted another 5-6 feet on the concrete tarmac. It was an impressive feat, but it made me cringe. No matter how carefully those bags were packed, I guarantee no bottle of shampoo survived the impact.

When I noticed he was handling every piece of luggage roughly, I elbowed Darlene, who was sitting next to me. When she saw what the guy was doing, she gasped and handed me the camera.

He drove the conveyer back to the plane, and two or more other baggage handlers climbed on the conveyor and began sorting luggage onto two carts. Every bag that came off the plane got thrown at least twelve feet, and some of them, such as the purple bag in the picture to the right, missed their intended destination and ended up on the tarmac.

As I said, these are strong guys, and they were obviously throwing the bags mainly for sport. They were putting as much arc on each throw as possible. They were actually exerting more energy than if they had handled the bags more gently.

And they were not saving any time. Witness the mess that had to be sorted out and picked up at the end of the process.

I've always wondered why my bags get so beat up when I fly. Now I know.

This is also why you should never put your laptop or anything breakable in your checked baggage.

I can second this kind of activity. I saw some while on layover at O'Hare International Airport. They obviously do not care about your bags, and sadly, they probably don't care about your theology. God will judge their improper treatment of a believer's bag (either on them or on Christ).

A few years back, I flew from Tashkent to Istanbul to New York to Los Angeles to Fresno. I opened and inspected my luggage at JFK, cleared security, and rechecked my bags for my flight to LAX.

Somehow, the contents of my bags made it fine through Tashkent and Istanbul, all the way to New York, but somewhere between New York and Fresno, my bags got opened, searched and crammed shut again, and several items within were broken.

To their credit, I filed a complaint with the Homeland Security Department, and they mailed me a check for the damages.

Last time I checked, however, there are no reimbursements for broken theology.

Thanks for the conference link. I was wondering when/if something of substance was going to show up in this post.

[ducking, running, and grinning]

Oh, and this is just one reason why I try every way possible to avoid checking luggage. Most times, I can make do with something that will fit in an overhead bin. If it won't fit, I check it in at the gate, not at a ticket counter. Might see if that is feasible next time. You'll avoid most of the baggage mistreatment, and you won't have to stand around waiting at a carousel after you land...

It was like those medieval anti-Pope elections where they made somebody else Pope but the first guy anathematized the second guy. There will be Emergent Jesuits swarming into the twin cities any day now ...

Come on guys! Don't you think you are being a little hard on the handlers? You don't know them and from what I can tell, your judging is based solely on outward appearance and actions. Not very Christian! After all, they could (and very well may be) excerising the demons within the luggage. OR, they are simply demonstrating how they feel about their own "excess baggage".

I don't know how our luggage was handled on the tarmac, but last year when we were returning home from California, the luggage security guys at LAX wanted to go through our luggage, so who were we to argue, right?

There was a very nice greet sweatshirt in Buggy's bad that never made it home,and I'm wondering who at LAX is wearing it.

sorry, Frank, I wasn't even attempting a gospel presentation there (obviously?) - whatever it was I was saying was lame I know. My 'realness' (read: not-as-well-read and sometimes-naive-to-the-room and maybe-I-shoulda-just-not-commented-comments) often don't go over well in here, but it's all good, God is all I care to impress.

And to further add to the truth in what_ ducksrunningandgrinning_ said:I would wish everyone to go and take full advantage of the conference video/audio the Desiring God people so generously made available.

I think Frank was referring to my post, not your comment. It helps to understand Frank's comments if you bear in mind that he's almost always facetious. If he doesn't threaten to clown you, you can usually figure he's just being droll.

It was good to meet you and your son and his wife, too. We thoroughly enjoyed the whole weekend.

Incidentally, though we missed our SLC connection and got home 5 hours late, our bags all made it with nothing broken.

and I'm so sorry your trip home was delayed, even in my comparibly limited experience with flying, something going wrong is usualy the rule, not the exception.Which brings to mind another lame sermon illustration:Throw all expections to the wind and you'll never be dissapointed.

[1] This proves how little I actually read the comment thread. I'm so self-involved that I didn't even bother to read the comments before tossing a soft tomato at Phil. I didn't even notice your comment.

[2] I came across like the stereotype of me rather than the actual me, and the actual me is ashamed.

I'm tempted to delete all the comments and revise my own statement for future reference, but I think saying I'm sorry makes a better witness.

Please accept my apology -- I'll be more particular in criticizing Phil in the future.

Now to vear off topic (ok - delete this post if this is too much of a stretch......but maybe if we could say the luggage was being annihilated........:-O )

The "question" of whether or not hell is eternal (annihilism?) is now an issue in our church. (Silly me - I never even knew this was a question!) My handling of this will be about as graceful as those baggage handlers unless I get a little help! I've searched the web in vain, and was hoping some of you Biblically accurate theologians could provide me with a link or Book Title,.... where someone has Biblically dealt with this issue and its implications.

Many, many thanks....and I'll try to be good and not stray off subject again!!!!

One recommendation is John Blanchard's book Whatever Happened to Hell? It was originally published by Evangelical Press in United Kingdom, and I believe Crossway Books picked it up some years ago and released a stateside edition. It's a hefty book, but it deals with the annihilationism issue.

An excellent passage to point people to is Matthew 25:46. The same Greek word is used for both everlasting punishment and eternal life. If the very same word used to describe eternal life is also used to describe eternal punishment, then the wicked are not annihilated--their existence continues on just as does the existence of believers in heaven. Revelation 20:10 is additional support for the idea that the punishment itself is everlasting, and not just the smoke and flames, as some say.

I just returned from a trip for work, which requires me to carry camera equipment and a long, padded tripod/light kit bag. The client asked me to bring a hard-hat to the shoot, which I conveniently cupped over the top of the tripod plate (extra protection for the plate). When I returned from the trip, I opened the tripod bag, and wouldn't ya know- my hard hat was severely cracked, obviously from a very hard impact. I'm glad it was in there, or my expensive tripod plate would likely have been broken. I think these gorilla's intentionally try to break the contents of our luggage!

I'll try to find the book. Also Matt 25:46 is great - especially since part of the arguement was based on the meaning of certain Greek words and the speaker's belief in an "influence of Greek thought" on the writers of Scripture.

Baggage must have been handled more safely in the Old Testament times, in the time of Saul, for instance. "So they inquired again of the Lord,"Is there a man still to come?" and the Lord said,"Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage." 1 Samuel 10:22

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